CONWAY, S.C. – James Madison ran off a 17-5 run to close its final true road game of the season on Saturday afternoon, battling back for a 73-66 win over Coastal Carolina in Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball action at the HTC Center.

The Dukes (18-9, 9-5 SBC) battled back from 12 points down in the second half, holding Coastal to a 29% (9-31) shooting performance after halftime and hitting their final five shots of the contest to turn a five-point deficit into a seven-point lead.

Graduate forward Mezie Offurum led the Dukes with his first JMU double-double, racking up 13 points and 10 boards to go with three steals, while sophomore Terrence Edwards tallied 16 points, his 10th straight double-digit scoring performance.

Junior Noah Freidel grabbed eight rebounds to go with his 12 points, while graduate Takal Molson added 11 points on the afternoon. Sophomore Tyree Ihenacho stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six assists and four rebounds without a turnover in 27 minutes and knocked down the game-tying and go-ahead three-pointers on back-to-back possessions.

Coastal forward Jimmy Nichols, Jr. used 14 points and nine rebounds in the first half on his way to a 20-point, 13-rebound performance to lead the way for the Chanticleers, while guard Josh Uduje added 20 points and seven boards.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
The Dukes took early leads of 6-2 and 10-5 over Coastal, but the Chanticleers ripped off 11 straight points midway through the opening half to put JMU in a 23-16 hole.

From there, the Dukes struggled with cold shooting, but only allowed Coastal to stretch the lead to as much as 10, with the Chanticleers hitting a three-pointer with a minute left to make the advantage 41-31 heading into halftime.

Second Half
Coastal pushed its lead to as many as 12 in the early minutes of the second half, but would not get any further as JMU chipped away at the lead throughout the period.

After a Coastal layup with 4:51 to play made it 61-56, the Dukes made their run, running off 12 straight points of their own, including back-to-back threes from Ihenacho and punctuated by a drive and dunk from Molson that gave JMU a 68-61 lead with just 1:25 to play.

All told, JMU held Coastal to three baskets on its last 13 shots and forced three Chanticleer turnovers in the final two minutes, as Molson and Freidel combined to go 5-6 from the line down the stretch to seal the come-from-behind victory.

QUICK HITS
– Senior guard Vado Morse had a pair of blocks, the seventh and eighth of his collegiate career.

– The Dukes now have eight road wins on the season, including six in league play, both of which are the most for JMU since the 2015-16 campaign.

– JMU is now 8-2 on Saturdays this season.

UP NEXT
The Dukes will finally return home for four straight games to end the regular season, beginning with a 7 p.m. matchup against in-state rival Old Dominion on Thursday, Feb. 16.

— JMU Athletics —